Anonymous wrote:Yale and Duke do cuts and only interview those in the running. Princeton interviews best first but tries to get to everyone. H and MIt do as many as possible. Penn interview matters for dual degree applicants only(Huntsman Viper M&T etc), and is selective; others are on availability and not evaluative as of last cycle. Northwestern is first-come but matters

Northwester no longer does interviews. It’s been a few years.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone has completed or scheduled Yale's interview?

DC is a legacy. Has not received an interview invite. Asssuming won’t be accepted.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone has completed or scheduled Yale's interview?

Nothing for my son, but he has some friends who received the invitation. So we are assuming my son is not getting into yale.

My daughter is still waiting for an invite.....

Anonymous wrote:Anyone has completed or scheduled Yale's interview?

Nothing for my son, but he has some friends who received the invitation. So we are assuming my son is not getting into yale.

The Harvard interview can matter in some cases… it did for my son.

As a pp said, AO’s are looking for independent verification that the student is what they say they are. This is why teacher recs are so critical.

If a teacher writes that you’re a once-in-a-career-type student, AOs will pay attention.

Anyone has completed or scheduled Yale's interview?

DC’s interview last year with a local Harvard doctor went very well. DC is not STEM focused so we weren’t expecting anything from it. But the doctor said he enjoyed the conversation, as did DC. Got accepted RD and is now there.
The interview itself was a good learning experience.

My DD completed her interview with Harvard last week.

Yale and Duke do cuts and only interview those in the running. Princeton interviews best first but tries to get to everyone. H and MIt do as many as possible. Penn interview matters for dual degree applicants only(Huntsman Viper M&T etc), and is selective; others are on availability and not evaluative as of last cycle. Northwestern is first-come but matters

And I will even tell you why the interviews matter — they are an unbiased look at a candidate and colleges want to ensure that there is “resonance” as a Yale AO described it. They want to see whether the same person who showed up in the application also shows up to the interview.

Anonymous wrote:I did alumnae interviews for Princeton for 10 years. I interviewed some amazing, amazing kids and raved about them but have yet to have any of my interviewees accepted. My sense is that they don't factor into the decisions at all but rather are a way to engage alums.

I do not know about Princeton. My daughter’s Harvard interviewer who also interviews for another Ivy (grad school) told her he had never had anyone accepted, so not to hold any hope.

She was his first interviewee to be admitted to either school! Looked at her admissions file and it was his rave review that got her in. Her friends have also viewed their admissions files and the interviews were very important to all of them. So many kids apply, most alumni are just unlucky to match with the ones who don’t get in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did alumnae interviews for Princeton for 10 years. I interviewed some amazing, amazing kids and raved about them but have yet to have any of my interviewees accepted. My sense is that they don't factor into the decisions at all but rather are a way to engage alums.

It’s this, of course. I did it for Harvard. The interviews mean nothing

The school I interview has you rate the candidates from 1 to 5 (5 being the highest.) Rating someone a 5 doesn't mean that the student will get in, because less than 4% of applicants are accepted overall.

But I would be surprised if someone got a low rating from an alumni interviewer and got in, because that would be a red flag. Unless they're super rich or a star athlete or something in which case all bets are off.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I did alumnae interviews for Princeton for 10 years. I interviewed some amazing, amazing kids and raved about them but have yet to have any of my interviewees accepted. My sense is that they don't factor into the decisions at all but rather are a way to engage alums.

It’s this, of course. I did it for Harvard. The interviews mean nothing

You again? I bet you are not even a Harvard alum- just pretending to be one on DCUM. Get a life and stop fantasizing about what might have been.

Harvard tries to interview as many as possible. In most cases, interviews do matter.

Anonymous wrote:I did alumnae interviews for Princeton for 10 years. I interviewed some amazing, amazing kids and raved about them but have yet to have any of my interviewees accepted. My sense is that they don't factor into the decisions at all but rather are a way to engage alums.

It’s this, of course. I did it for Harvard. The interviews mean nothing

My kid just had his Harvard interview. It was scheduled for 30 mins, but they ended up talking for more than an hour. My kid said she had so much fun at the interview. I don’t think interviews move the needle at all for admission, but they are great practices for future internship and job interviews and just life in general.